


The Meeting at Opal Creek

by Daphnean



Series: Soo Saptember [4]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Children, Alternate Universe - Not K-Pop Idols, Fluff, Kid Fic, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-04
Updated: 2018-09-04
Packaged: 2019-07-06 21:54:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15894879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daphnean/pseuds/Daphnean
Summary: Peanut butter sandwiches, crossing streams, and boat races; they were an unforgettable part of Chanyeol's childhood.





	The Meeting at Opal Creek

Chanyeol rested his cheek against the car door, gaze out the window but also beyond it. Somewhere in the world beyond what he could see there was a castle, the ocean, a mama dog and her puppies. Someday, when he could take the bus alone or sleep without a nightlight, he was going to see it all.

The view was pretty though; trees sprinkled with orange and yellow as fall was coming. The clouds looked more like pillow stuffing, dotted onto the blue sky.

Today mom had told him they were meeting one of her friends. She had a little boy too and that they had a creek behind their house where they could play after lunch. He hoped his mom’s friend liked peanut butter sandwiches, because they were his favorite, and that her son was nice. Chanyeol had even brought his best blue sailboat for them to play with.

The bumps of the gravel driveway shook the car and Chanyeol pulled his cheek from the door as to not bonk his head against the glass (like he usually did). Their car seemed to smoke from the dusty rocks, leaving them in clouds as they stepped out.

Yura said he was too clingy, but he hurried around the car, shifting his boat into his other hand so he could hold his mom’s anyways. Yura was at a friend’s today and she didn’t have to know.

The lady who answered the door had big, pretty eyes and wore a lemon yellow dress. Chanyeol smiled, big and toothy at her, greeting her brightly. It was only then he noticed the small boy hiding behind her legs, peering out with just as big of eyes behind thick glasses.

Tilting his head, Chanyeol took in the other boy. Was he really the same age? Chanyeol was second tallest in his preschool class, but this boy was so tiny. He was wearing a striped red shirt and blue shorts. When his mother finally stepped aside, Chanyeol could see the rest of his face; his round cheeks and lips.

“This is Kyungsoo.”

He looked scared. Chanyeol understood that, well not entirely. His mother said he “never met a stranger,” but he had friends at school that were shy and didn’t know what to do with their words or hands when they met someone new. Chanyeol gave him a bright wave, letting his mom usher him inside, before carefully removing his shoes.

The other boy gave a tiny, secret smile back, but stayed close to his mom, playing hide and seek with the bottom of her dress.

They didn’t get the chance to talk more before they were all sat at the table together. Chanyeol dug into his peanut butter and jelly sandwich with big bites, the insides all spread against his cheeks. Kyungsoo ate his sandwiches crust first, like he was saving every bite of the middle. Chanyeol thought that was a smart way to eat them, so he tried with his second sandwich to do the same, but got impatient halfway through.

Apparently Kyungsoo found this funny, having moved on to his carrot sticks. He drank milk to Chanyeol’s apple juice. Probably so he’d get taller.

The grownups talked about all sorts of things, but Chanyeol knew all of his mom’s best stories were back at home, on the bookshelf, so he tried to talk to Kyungsoo instead.

“You have a river behind your house?” He asked, wiping the peanut butter from his face onto the back of his hand.

Kyungsoo nodded. “It’s not very big. I can cross it myself.”

Chanyeol’s eyes widened. “Whoa. Do you have to swim?”

“No, you hop across. Like when the floor is lava, but with rocks instead of pillows.” Kyungsoo finished off the rest of his milk. “We call it a creek, though, not a river. Opal Creek.”

Chanyeol had his boat on the table. He lifted it up so it balanced briefly on the middle, before it toppled back down again, nearly knocking over his juice. He grinned. “Big enough for my boat?”

Inspecting the boat carefully, Kyungsoo’s brows met as he pushed up his glasses. “I think so. I have a boat too. Mine has a sail, but it’s green.”

“Cool. We can race them!” Chanyeol was excited. Usually when he was with his mom visiting friends, he’d have to play by himself in the living room while they talked. If he was lucky, they had a cat or dog for him to pet until his mom drug him away because of his allergies. But Kyungsoo had a good smile and ate sandwiches good too, so this would be fun.

Kyungsoo munched thoughtfully on a carrot stick. “I think yours might win. Mine is smaller.”

“I’m smaller than my sister, but I’m faster.” Chanyeol grinned. “And green’s a faster color.”

Suddenly his mom was tugging him towards the bathroom, standing watch to make sure he washed his hands and face well enough. Once he was sufficiently clean, she and Kyungsoo’s mom led the way outside, where they sat on chairs.

The water glittered in the sun, bubbling like a water fountain. Boat clutched to his chest, he gave Kyungsoo one last glance before running out towards the water. He stopped just shy of it, glad he didn’t bring his shoes cause he’d just be kicking them off anyways. The sound of the water was pretty, almost as pretty as spit-shiny lollipops or Yura’s missing front tooth. He flopped down onto his butt, dipping one toe into the water.

It was cold, but Chanyeol sank his whole foot in, before swinging the other down in too. Yura always said that getting in all at once made the cold go away faster. Sometimes she was annoying, but she was smart, so Chanyeol listened.

Kyungsoo was slower to approach. He didn’t stick his feet in, but Chanyeol could see his boat. It was in a red bucket, along with some other toys.

“You can jump across over there.” Kyungsoo pointed to stones looking like a bridge.

There was a movie he watched once where he watched dogs and a cat cross rocks one by one. Chanyeol wasn’t very good at not falling when he jumped, he still couldn’t do the monkey bars at school, but he wanted to try.

“Can I see you do it first, Soo?” Chanyeol kicked his feet in the water, looking to see if there were any fish or frogs around. Sadly, he just saw his feet and rocks and water. If he scooted just a bit closer, he could touch the bottom; it wasn’t very deep.

Kyungsoo sat his bucket down and licked his lips, nodding. “Yeah.”

The smaller boy walked over to the rocks, looking very serious. He took a deep breath and then jumped onto the first rock. He kept his hands outstretched, rocking one way, then the other, before jumping to the next. Chanyeol watched in awe as Kyungsoo made it all the way over to the other side. His smile was blinding, teeth whiter than the stripes on his shirt.

“You wanna try, Yeollie?” He ran his hands into his hair. “My brother showed me how. I can show you too?”

Chanyeol was up on his feet, cheeks round with his smile. “Yeah, yeah!”

Before he could jump onto the first stone, Kyungsoo raised both his hands out towards him, palms out. “Stop!”

Chanyeol didn’t move a muscle, didn’t even talk.

“You gotta dry your feet on the grass, okay? And with each jump you hold your hands out wide for balance, like a plane.” Kyungsoo looked up as he thought of each step. “You got to bend your legs for more power. That’s what Seungsoo said.”

That seemed pretty easy. Chanyeol gently sat his boat down, making sure to dry his feet on the grass, like he did when he got in from the rain. They were pretty slippery. When he was sure they were dry enough, he held his hands out and bent his knees.

Jumping forward, he nearly fell forwards into the water and the rocks, but he caught himself, leaning back just in time. Kyungsoo gave him a big thumb’s up and Chanyeol felt a pleased little leap in his belly, like when he slid down the slide at the playground.

“Good! You just keep going like that.” Kyungsoo cheered him on. “You can do it! If you fall, that’s okay too. I fell before.”

Kyungsoo was very nice, maybe as nice as Jongdae. Chanyeol wanted to show him he could do it, prove to him he was a good teacher. He focused as hard as he could and jumped to the next rock, this time not even wobbling at all.

Confident, he made it to the next rock, the one after, but on the following rock he stumbled, nearly falling. Kyungsoo gasped and Chanyeol flapped his arms around like he could fly. The other boy had rushed over, but he still wasn’t close enough to catch him were he to fall. Chanyeol closed his eyes, bracing for the cold water, but somehow he managed to not tip in.

Kyungsoo’s voice was closer now, bright with their energy. “Two more rocks. Chanyeollie, you can do it!”

Chanyeol counted them out with each jump. “One. Two.”

All he had to do was jump the shore and he’d have done it all on his own his very first try. Chanyeol jumped and felt the grass tickle his ankles as he landed safely on the other side. Immediately he began to jump up and down, hands in the air. “I did it! I made it, Soo!”

“Your first time.” Kyungsoo smiled with all of his teeth. “I’ll have to tell my brother. He won’t believe it!”

Chanyeol puffed up his chest, smile proud. “I had a good teacher. And I’m second tallest in my class.”

“Seungsoo doesn’t even need the rocks anymore.” Kyungsoo looked shy then, gaze to his toes. “Maybe someday I’ll be tall too.”

Chanyeol nodded. “Yeah. You might even be taller than me!”

Now that he’d defeated the bridge, Chanyeol looked back over at their boats. Part of him wanted to cross the rock bridge again, but that would just take so long. Instead he just trudged right through the water towards the other side, Kyungsoo giggling behind him. He took the rocks back over instead.

“So where do we start the race?” Chanyeol was inspecting the boat, making sure that the sail was straight and secure.

Kyungsoo had taken his own boat from the bucket, inspecting it too. He looked up and scanned the river, scrunching his brows together again. “Maybe by the waterfall? From there to the crossing stones?”

Chanyeol thought that sounded like a good idea, padding that direction with his boat in hand. Once they both settled, each had their boats held in the water.

“On the count of three?” Kyungsoo looked over, glasses slipping down his nose.

Chanyeol hoped his boat would be as swift as the coursing river, like in Yura’s favorite movie Mulan. “Ready.”

“One, two...three!” Kyungsoo let his boat go, just as Chanyeol did.

Both boys began to cheer their boats on, Chanyeol jumping up and down while Kyungsoo whooped loudly. The boats were so close, even bumping each other like cars in a race. At one point Kyungsoo’s teetered too far towards one side and Chanyeol feared it would crash into the shore, but it righted just a moment later.

The boats had almost reached the rocks, when Chanyeol’s boat moved the slightest bit faster, reaching the rocks just a moment before Kyungsoo’s did. Cheering wildly, it was Kyungsoo’s sudden silence that made him realize something was wrong.

Kyungsoo’s boat had reached the rocks too, stopping between them, but Chanyeol’s boat had slipped through, going far past the finish line and further downstream. Horrified, his hands went to his mouth, eyes stinging. There was no way he’d be able to catch it, even with how fast he was. The ground around the creek was like an obstacle course, with tree roots and rocks. “No, my boat. Nana got me that for Christmas...”

Before he could even begin to rush towards it, Kyungsoo sped off, running across the bank of the stream with speed and knowing where to place his feet. Chanyeol’s eyes went wide as the smaller boy jumped into a water with a loud splash.

Hurrying over to where he landed in the water, Chanyeol found Kyungsoo sopping, hair dripping into his face and glasses beading like a glass of lemonade in the sun. But he was smiling, holding Chanyeol’s boat in triumph. “I got it, Yeollie. Don’t cry.”

Chanyeol’s cheeks hurt with how he smiled. He jumped into the water, giving the smaller boy the biggest, tightest hug his arms could make. “Thank you, Soo.”

–

They left later, when the sun was turning the sky into saltwater taffy, the strawberry kind Chanyeol liked most. He gave Kyungsoo four hugs and the other boy returned each one. When he left, he waved to Kyungsoo on the front porch until he couldn’t see him anymore.

He looked down at his boat, rescued from the clutches of the almost-river by his new friend. All the playing outside made him sleepy and he closed his eyes, letting the rocking of the car, the pretty sky, sing him to sleep.

–

Twenty years later, both of their worn boats sat on the mantle of their fireplace as a reminder of that first day they’d spent together. Kyungsoo still had the same smile, was still smaller, and still held Chanyeol’s heart in his hands. Now they shared a home, shared a last name, rather than just peanut butter sandwiches.

**Author's Note:**

> The biggest challenge with writing this was deciding just how to write children characters. Often I find they tend to come across as far too young or too old for what the author was intending, so I worked really hard to try and make them feel convincingly young. Of the fics I have posted so far, this one might be my favorite. It's so soft and innocent; fitting for baby!ChanSoo.
> 
> EXO and all other Kpop entertainers presented here are real people and so I remind you that this is just a fic, like a play with their stage personas as the actors. This is not intended to be a representation of who these men and women are or are not. Remember to love and respect them always. And thanks for reading! <3


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